Box.net Adds Collaboration, Takes Aim at Google Docs
After being in development for months, Box.net has
officially released the beta of their new collaboration functionality. With this
new feature, any Box.net user can invite collaborators to any folder in their
account. The collaboration feature is also fully compatible with all the OpenBox
services, which extends online collaboration beyond just word processor
documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, like Google Docs currently offers.
To use the Box.net collaboration feature, you just right-click on any folder in your Box.net account. There, you will see an new menu option to "invite collaborators." You can then enter in the email addresses of the person or persons you wish to collaborate with. As you type, the email addresses of anyone who is already listed in your Box.net Contacts List will appear so you can select them easily, if desired.
Collaborators can be given either "Viewer" or "Editor" rights the folder, a setting you select before sending the invite. After the invitation is sent, those users will then see the same folder appear in their accounts. Every time a new file is added to the folder, all subscribed users are alerted either via email or in the "Updates" section of their Box.net homepage.
Along with collaboration, Box.net is also releasing Version History for any file on Box for users with a premium account. With Version History, any file that you or the collaborators edit will now have a complete record of versions, which is great for un-doing changes, recovering deleted content, and rolling back to previous versions.
The killer feature of the collaboration offering is that it's fully compatibility with Box.net's OpenBox services. With this functionality, collaborators can choose to edit documents online, like they can with Google Docs, but users can choose to use either Zoho or thinkfree to do so. Where Box.net trumps Google Docs is in the fact that Box.net collaborators can also edit photos online with Picnik or Snipshot. Once the edits are finished, Box.net makes it easy to then publish files online to any of the OpenBox services. The full list of these partnered web services includes: Autodesk Freewheel, blog posting (to Wordpress, LiveJournal, or Blogger), Echosign, eFax, facebook, Myxer, picnik, Scribd, Snipshot, thinkfree, twitter, Zazzle, and Zoho.
Although the collaboration feature makes Box.net a worthy adversary in the realm of online document sharing and editing, the Google Docs solution is still a more robust offering overall as it also includes business-oriented features like email, calendaring, IM, web page creation, and administration features.
The Box.net collaboration beta is available now to all members and everyone can participate in as many folders as they are invited to. However, free account holders can only create up to three collaboration folders.
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My first comment here... Nice post. I've been a user of Box.net and Google Docs since their inception. And the bottom line of this too is that Google Docs is completely free.
Hi Sarah,
I'm definitely on the lookout for a "Track Changes" equivalent in an online word processor. It wasn't clear to me after reading your article if that's what Box.Net is offering. "Collaboration" can mean a lot of things; it would be great if you could be more explicit/clearer about the functionality Box.Net is offering, especially for those (like me) who don't already use the service.
Thanks.
The killer feature in Google Apps for me is the ability to co-edit document at the same time - which box.net won't have as people have to open the file somewhere else and then save it again. But box.net as a place to store files used in many services across the web will rule in the future as more webapps will adopt "desktop free" aproach and join openbox.
@josh: Box.net's *version history* keeps different versions of the files after edits have been performed, but what you're asking about is *tracking changes* which is a function of the word processor itself.
The confusion lies in the fact that many people use "versioning" and "tracking changes" interchangeably. Although similar in purpose, they are different things.
Versioning means keeping separate copies of a file after edits have been made and the file is again saved. "Tracking changes" is ability for a user to make edits that another user can choose to accept or reject. In Microsoft Word, for ex, you can "track changes" to see additions and deletions within a doc, then choose to accept or reject other people's revisions one at a time or all at once. You can also merge multiple users' revisions into a single document and then review them. You can even save different versions of a document within the same document.
To my knowledge, neither Zoho nor ThinkFree nor Google Docs offers that level of tracking changes in a file, something that would be great to see. So, if that is a deal-breaker for you, you may want to check out MS Office Live instead (http://workspace.officelive.com) which assumes you have MS software of course, but does add in the collaboration aspect you need. You can also keep other types of file (PDFs, pics) online, but all edits are done w/desktop software.
That may not be the answer you're hoping for, but that's where we are today with web office software functionality. I know a lot of people like you who are waiting on that feature to arrive in a web office product.
Something of note for potential box.net users.
If you wish to use file collaboration with sub-users able to upload to you at a file size greater than 10MB you must have the $20 per month service.
With the $7.95 per month service, your collaborators may only upload a maximum 10MB file size unless they also have the same level account.
If you're a service type business, it's not a good thing telling customers they must join to work with you,(i.e. send you files).
If I have to adopt the $240 per year service in order to make things seamless for my clients, I'll be looking at other alternatives.